After a smashing success the first time around, the second-ever Global Poker Masters will return in 2016 for another go-round.

Not one to rest on his laurels, however, bringing the event back is just one part of the ambitious vision to sportify poker for Global Poker Index kingpin Alex Dreyfus.

Coming up shortly: A new daily Global Poker Index TV show hosted by former PokerStars.tv presenter Laura Cornelius.

This time next year? He'll try to take the GPM to another sporting level with a new venue and a gallery for several hundred spectators.

Studio Under Construction, Big Plans for WSOP

At the moment the GPI’s head office in Malta is getting a makeover with the addition of a video studio ready to broadcast a daily poker show.

“The idea is to start as soon as possible," Dreyfus said at the PokerStars and Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final.

"We will have a daily talk show including taking Twitch to the next level."

While there are now several players doing their own one-man streams on Twitch, Dreyfus says the show will switch between several different streams and follow the players live as they’re progressing in tournaments.

Later in the summer, Dreyfus says, the GPI show will host reports from the WSOP for at least three hours a day before turning into a regular web show that will air several times a week.

Cornelius will be the host and will supplement the Twitch coverage by talking with players and experts in the poker industry.

"Create Enough Heat to Make People Stay"

The Global Poker Masters team poker event will also return next year.

While the initial plan was to continue running it alongside EPT Malta, with the change in the EPT Season 12 schedule to bring EPT Malta back this Fall it will likely switch to a different event next Spring.

“The main challenge will be to create enough heat to make people stay."

This will not only serve the spirit of “sportification,” Dreyfus says, but also give the organizers a chance to build galleries for several hundred spectators.

In Malta the premises didn’t allow for an audience.

During the first GPM people spent around 40 minutes on average watching online, Dreyfus says. In some countries – like France – it was more; in others less.

The least interest was created in North America. But this would have probably changed dramatically had Team USA, which was actually the highest-ranked team, won the event or made the final.

The goal this time, Dreyfus says, is simple: Raise the number of viewers and, even more importantly, make them want to come back.

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